In a recent development, former White House lawyer Ty Cobb has launched a scathing attack on the judge overseeing the criminal case involving classified documents, accusing her of repeated delays and incompetence. Meanwhile, US Attorney General Merrick Garland has strongly refuted former President Donald Trump's false and dangerous claim that the FBI had been authorized to shoot him during an investigation.

Cobb, who served as presidential counsel during the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, expressed his frustration with Aileen Cannon, the Trump-appointed judge presiding over the federal documents case in Florida. Cobb claimed that Cannon's decisions and recent rulings have significantly slowed down the legal process, increasing the likelihood that the case will not go to trial before November's presidential election.

Calling the judge's actions "incompetent" and citing "perceived bias," Cobb argued that the case should have already gone to trial. He pointed out that Cannon's scheduling of multiple hearings, focusing on one or two motions at a time, indicated a lack of progress. According to Cobb, the case "should've started trial yesterday or two days ago when the original trial date was set," but alleged incompetence and bias have prevented its progression.

At the same time, Attorney General Garland held a press conference in Washington, D.C., where he strongly rebuked Trump's claim that the FBI had been given authorization to use lethal force during a search of his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Garland clarified that the FBI's search, conducted in August 2022, was in relation to the retrieval of classified materials that Trump had retained after leaving office. The search did not involve Trump himself, and the drafted policy statement made public this week specified that deadly force could only be used if an officer or another individual was in immediate danger.

Garland labeled Trump's assertion as "false" and "extremely dangerous," cautioning about the detrimental impact of spreading such misinformation. He emphasized that similar policies limiting the use of lethal force were also in effect during consensual searches of President Joe Biden's homes in a separate classified documents investigation.

While Cannon has denied efforts by Trump's legal team to have the case dismissed, she has faced criticism from legal analysts and Democrats for the lengthy delays in ruling on individual motions, potentially prolonging the case into an election year. Democrats argue that these actions align with Trump's strategy of delaying the trial beyond November's election, with hopes of annulment if he is reelected.

This month, Cannon indefinitely postponed the trial date to address how classified information would be handled during the proceedings, despite such procedures being outlined in the Classified Information Procedures Act (Cipa).

It is important to note that Trump currently faces 88 criminal charges in various cases, including allegations of mishandling classified documents after leaving the White House and obstructing the investigation to recover them. Cobb, who was appointed as Trump's counsel despite not voting for him, has previously criticized the ex-president's conduct, declaring him to be "the greatest threat to democracy that we've ever seen."

As the legal battle continues, stakeholders eagerly await further developments in these high-stakes cases that have implications for the country's political landscape and the reputation of its former president.